This lake has not always been known as Hauser Lake. Old maps show
that it was earlier known as Mud Lake, Mudd Lake and Sucker Lake. So who was Hauser and what was his connection to this area.

Sometime after the gold and silver strikes in North Idaho, the
governor of Montana, Samuel T. Hauser, sent his good friend and business partner, Daniel Corbin, to North Idaho to look into building a railroad line into the Coeur d’Alene mining district. Corbin
eventually built a branch line from the Northern Pacific Railroad, beginning at the area now known as Hauser Junction, into Post Falls and on to the steamboat docks in Coeur d’Alene. Completed in
1886, it was approximately 13.5 mile long and was called the Spokane Falls and Idaho Railroad.

It is therefore believed that Hauser Junction was named at the
time the branch was completed by Daniel Corbin in honor of Governor Hauser. The lake north of Hauser Junction and the village at the lake were also subsequently named for Governor
Hauser.

Excerpts for History of North Idaho, published in 1903 by
the Western Historical Publishing Company, state:

Hauser is the junction of the main line with the Coeur
d’Alene branch of the Northern Pacific Railroad. It is twenty-one miles east of Spokane and six miles southwest of Rathdrum, the county seat of Kootenai County. It is in the Spokane
Valley, or what is termed locally, the Rathdrum Prairie, about midway between Mud Lake (now Hauser Lake) on the north and Spokane River on the south. The surrounding lands are largely
agricultural and some of the best ranches in the county are in this vicinity. Its proximity to Post Falls, which is only about five miles away, has retarded progress at Hauser in the business
way, but to the north and west is quite a large expanse of territory that must, when fully settled, become a tributary to the town. Consequently, there is reason to believe that in the future
it will become a thriving village.

Settlements were made here as early as 1889, but in 1900 it
was credited with a population of only 38…..

…The town is pleasantly situated, with the prairie stretching
way to the east and west and the mountains rising on the north and south. There is an abundance of timberland to the north that is valuable, not only for the timber, but for its productive
qualities when cleared. It is a desirable local for home builders. Adjoining lands on all sides are being rapidly settled.”

The Hauser Lake watershed area is still not completely developed
and is much more of a “blue collar” lake than its neighboring lakes. Although development continues, it does so at a slower pace than during the 2 - 3 decades prior to the 2008 housing
collapse. There is still timberland, farmland, and other natural, undeveloped land visible from the lake, above its western, northern and eastern shores.

Physical &
Hydrological Characteristics

Lake Surface

625 acres

Maximum Depth

40 ft.

Mean Depth

21 ft.

Lake Volume

5.7 x 108 ft.

Watershed Area

12,9000 acres

Surface Lake Elevation

2,187 ft.

Flushing Rate

8 months

Land Use Areas within the Hauser Lake
Watershed

Type

Acres

Percentage

Forest

10,962

85%

Agriculture

775

6%

Rural/Suburban

659

5%

Incorporated Suburban

349

3%

Wetlands

155

1%

Total

12,9001

100%

118% (2,350 acres) is located in Washington and 82% (10,550) is located in Idaho